It occurs to me...

[Ant]

That i havent heard a pair of commercial speakers in over 10 years

Last commercial speakers i had were a pair of quad 11ls, and they went before i moved here in 2010

Obviously ive heard colins edingdales and jennas, but other than that, nothing.

Do 'modern' commercial speakers (i.e stuff made past 2005) sound any different to how i remember 90s speakers sounding? Has there been a change in the balance that punters want?

I remember finding the other speakers i auditioned when i bought the quads seemed abit bright, they were cdm1 b&ws, some kefs i cant remeber and some rega standmounts.
Is that a trend that continued?

Idle musings triggered by idly looking at ebay, it was a little odd to consider how long it has been since i went in a shop to buy anything hifi related, and how out of touch i am with commercial hifi.

Looking at the system, the only relatively modern things i have are the topping dac and the phono stage, and the cartridges. The rest is stuff i made, or is ancient and obsolete

What is a modern sound? I have to admit that i have no idea!

[ed]

What is a modern sound? I have to admit that i have no idea!

moi non plus!

I have listened, at length, to NVA amps, but have no idea how that relates to modern sound. If it is the modern sound then I'm quite content to stick with my stuff. I don't think I've heard any domestic speakers since we started our get-togethers(ESL63s excepted).

I am not qualified to discuss anything about relative hi fi merits.

[Toppsy]

Ant,
Referring to my Edingdale speakers I am of the opinion they have a 'modern' sound as you put it. The room at Owston where you have heard these speakers doesn't give a true appreciation of there performance and as you know is not kind to many a speaker except perhaps OB's.

As the Covid-9 restrictions have been eased to allow up to 6 people to meet indoors from 3 households, should you (and perhaps your dad?) wish to listen to these in a proper home room set up rather than the large and difficult to drive Owston room, you are most welcome to come over to my place. I believe my current set up has a 'modern' sound consisting of Edingdale 'GT' speakers being driven by a pair the LDA P6 power amps, LDA MCj2 phonostage, Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck turntable with latest version the NA Ace Space tonearm fitted with a Benz Micro Glider cartridge. The only non 'commercial component being my preamp. You are welcome to bring along any your gear you wish to compare sounds.

Let me know and we'll arrange something.

[Ant]

We shall see what happens, bojo is being noncomittal over the what and when, but sounds like a plan once things settle some more

[Toppsy]

Understood. You know where we are.

[rowuk]

There has been a HUGE change in commercial speakers in the last 40 years. Companies like Braun, Infinity, JBL, AR, Dahlquist, DCM that provided "high end qualities" at a midrange price are essentially gone. What has exploded is the extreme high end for those with more money than common sense.
On the other hand, I would be very hard pressed to name a current speaker model that has moved the art forward from an Infinity IRS Beta, B&W 801 or even a Klipschorn.

[Ray P]

My last exposure to commercial kit was when I moseyed along to the Bristol HiFi show shortly before the Covid storm hit. 'Moern sound' or not, It was all pretty mediocre an nothing tempted me to want to put my hand in my pocket.

[steve s]

I get a good dose of commercial loudspeakers at the wam show, last year excepting, and it was 2 years ago I did a tour of our local hifi shops (x2 !)
I also went to an ortofon cartridge session that took a whole afternoon at fanthorpes.

I've heard some very decent commercial loudspeakers but not heard many that comes close to what I've diy'd.
There is little high end / low efficiency that floats my boat at any price, I feel that they do similar to many push pull feedback amps that modulate the signal slightly. And in doing that remove a little of the realism